Take Three
by klutzysunshine
Summary: As soon as the pregnancy test came back positive - which Sam expected it to - she panicked and bolted.


As soon as the pregnancy test came back positive - which Sam expected it to - the panic and fear caused her fight or flight instinct to kick in and after making sure other garbage was on top of everything she wanted to hide, she bolted from her place. Not even bothering to call off work (which is something she'd normally do because Eddie would worry), she fled to somewhere she hoped no one would find her until she was able to calm down and figure out her next stop, something that seemed impossible at the moment.

As expected, Eddie started flipping out about Sam's whereabouts about an hour and a half after she didn't show up to work. "Find her!" he barked at Berto and Monica, who scrambled to do just that.

"Do we know why she wouldn't show up?" Berto asked his boss, fearing the worst and obvious but not quite having the courage to ask.

"She didn't fall off the wagon, Berto, so don't even think about it. She was fine last night when we talked and seemed pretty upbeat." He started pacing back and forth.

"But that doesn't mean much and you know it," Monica pointed out. She took a step back when Eddie whirled around and glared at her.

"Don't get mad at her. You know it's a possibility." Berto hoped that wasn't what had happened, however. Sam was one of his best friends now and he'd support her if she needed the help but something else seemed to be the problem.

"Something's been different lately and I haven't been able to put my finger on it," an angry Eddie murmured as he started pacing again. He sat down on his desk and closed his eyes.

"She's been snapping a lot lately." Berto couldn't figure out why either - everything had been going great lately, which was pretty unusual for them.

"But she cried over a cookie commercial the other day." Monica had stared at Sam in amusement for fifteen minutes after that fiasco until her boss had told her to get back to work. It was still pretty funny.

"But yet those sugar cookies made her sick two days ago," Eddie reminded them and then froze. He and Monica seemed to have reached the same conclusion at once because her eyes widened.

"Uh, guys? What have you figured out?" Berto felt left out.

"She's pregnant. Of course she is. Why didn't I see it before?" Eddie scrambled up off the desk and decided to hunt her down because he needed to find the woman he loved immediately now that he had figured it out.

"It is pretty obvious now. I should have seen it." Monica would have headed off Sam's freak-out immediately if she had known.

"We all should have," Eddie corrected. He grabbed his keys and cell then bolted out of the office.

"Want to bet on how long it takes him to find her?" Berto asked Monica.

"Sure." They didn't have a case at the moment so she was pretty bored and definitely up for this bet.

* * *

It took Eddie three hours to track her down but when he did find Sam, she was crying. She stood up and tried to pull herself together. "Wow, I'm surprised it took you that long," she tried to joke, her voice cracking.

He got straight to the point, not wanting to waste another minute. "You're pregnant."

"Wow, that was blunt. Did you find the pregnancy test?"

"Yes, but only _after_ Monica and I had already figured out what was wrong and why you didn't show up. It wasn't that much of a surprise after that." He sat down next to her. "You okay?"

She shrugged. "I'm a fucking mess, Eddie. What do you think?"

"Do you want this baby? I'll support whatever decision you make," he assured her.

Sam sniffled. "Am I going to be a good mother, Eddie? Look at how much of a mess I am right now. How much of a mess I was. How am I supposed to do this?"

"First off, you aren't alone. Second of all, I love you and will be with you through everything. Third of all, I need to stop listing things." She giggled and urged him to continue. "Anyway, you are a wonderful person who turned her life around, who found another passion in life. You're kicking ass at this PI thing, Samantha Swift. We're inevitably going to fuck this up as does every parent. But I think we're going to rock parenthood, especially with me by your side."

Sam wiped the tears off her face and sighed. "I do want this baby. Think I was due a massive meltdown and the pregnancy triggered it. You really think we can raise a kid?"

He bumped her shoulder with his own. "Yeah, I do. But just you know, you're on desk duty from now on. You're not putting yourself at risk."

She glared at him, tempted to kick her boyfriend in the shin. "Fine, but only because I know you love me so much. I love you too, Eddie."

"I know you do." He kissed her then grabbed her hand and helped her up. "Think we can both take today off to celebrate. And freak out a bit more because I don't think it's truly hit me yet."

"Wait until it does and then you'll see how I got to this point," Sam advised, leaning her head against him as they walked back to his car. She was still terrified but as long as Eddie was by her side, she could handle anything. And she was strong as fuck after surviving everything she did - this wouldn't undo all the progress she had made.

"I'll take your word for it." As fearful as he was himself, Eddie couldn't wait to meet this life they had unexpectedly created together.

Eddie and Sam could handle anything life threw at them as long as they were together, and Monica and Berto would be by their side. This kid was definitely loved already.


End file.
